OAKLAND, CA – JANUARY 27: Renaldo Balkman #32 and head coach Isiah Thomas of the New York Knicks talk during the NBA game against the Golden State Warriors on January 27, 2007 at Oracle Arena in Oakland, California. The Warriors won 106-104. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2007 NBAE

A Denver Nugget actually said this: “Defense is first on my mind, before scoring.”

Those were the words of Renaldo Balkman, whom the Nuggets acquired Monday from the Knicks for reserves Bobby Jones, Taurean Green and a 2010 second-round draft pick. The Nuggets, who sometimes play as if defense was optional, now have a player whose main focus is at the defensive end.

“I’m a defensive stopper,” said Balkman, a 6-foot-8 reserve forward. “Any (position) you put me on, I can guard. That’s what I do.”

The 24-year-old Balkman, traded along with about $575,000 in cash considerations, should help Denver’s bench. The Nuggets hope he will crack their rotation and provide some of the defensive intensity Denver lost when forward Eduardo Najera signed with New Jersey this month. Balkman averaged 3.4 points and 3.3 rebounds last season for the Knicks.

Green and Jones were likely candidates to be waived in August, when their contracts are to become guaranteed.

“I’m going to make the best of my opportunity,” said Balkman, who is from Staten Island, N.Y. “New York was great, but that’s in my past now. Denver is my future.”

Balkman played collegiately at South Carolina, helping the Gamecocks win back-to-back NIT titles and earning MVP honors after the second title in 2006. The Knicks drafted him 20th overall.

Though Balkman is still budding as an NBA player, he has showed flashes of defensive brilliance, notably against Denver last season, when Balkman shut down Nuggets all-star Carmelo Anthony in the second half of a Knicks victory.

Counting 2008 draft pick Sonny Weems, Denver has 11 players under contract, and the Nuggets have made a qualifying offer to restricted free agent J.R. Smith. A team must carry 13 players on its roster.

Benjamin Hochman was a sports columnist for The Denver Post until August 2015 before leaving for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, his hometown newspaper. Hochman previously worked for the New Orleans Times-Picayune, winner of two Pulitzer Prizes for its Hurricane Katrina coverage. Hochman wrote the Katrina-themed book “Fourth and New Orleans,” published in 2007.

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